Hi,
I'm a 34 soon to be 35 year old male from Norway, and I happened to come across this forum not too long ago, when I was searching for some reviews and comparisons of various mechanical keyboards. I spent quite some time reading various threads, and thought it was an interesting forum.
So, how did I come upon mechanical keyboards? Well, a few years ago I overheard a conversation about these "mechanical" keyboards, but didn't really register. It wasn't until almost a year ago when I accidentally spilled Coke on my cheap 12-years old Logitech wireless rubber dome, that I had to consider finally getting a new keyboard. First off, I realize I said I spilled Coke on a keyboard - something that probably is a scary thought to many on this forum (and still is to me) - but what happened really won't happen again, as I don't drink near my keyboard in the first place, so...
I cleaned my keyboard, but it just wasn't the same. When telling some friends that I wanted a new keyboard, I was re-introduced to the concept of mechanical keyboards again, but this time I got a thorough explanation, which really interested me.
After a couple of days of reading, I bought my first keyboard: The Ducky DK9008 Shine 2 Green LED, with MX Brown switches. I chose Brown because they sounded like nice all-around switches for my usage (some gaming, mostly typing).
And the first time I tried them, I was in heaven. I had actually planned on keeping the old rubber dome - perhaps for nostalgia for lasting so long, but when I tried typing on it again after an hour on the Ducky, I felt violated if not desecrated, and almost offended, and promptly threw it straight into the trashcan, with zero regrets...
Then not too long after I bought that keyboard, I came across a rather nice offer for a new Filco Majestouch2 91 tkl MX Red, so I bought that too...
And then I came upon a new in box, unused Model M 52G9658, which I also purchased...
And so I realized that with mechanical keyboards, it's hard to have only one keyboard. They are different. They make you look at your wallet many times. And well, I guess you all know how this is!
Now a year later, I just recently purchased two more keyboards, which I really look forward to receiving, and using: The Leopold FC660M MX Green, and the HHKB Pro2 PD-KB400W. (The American and European prices for the HHKB is too much for me, but purchasing it from Japan was much more reasonable.)
My current WPM is at about 90, though I want to raise it to 120. I type using QWERTY, and haven't really thought about either Dvorak or Colemak, and I'm not sure if I should consider it or not. Perhaps one day I'll try it.
Well, with a bunch of keyboards I realize I still want more, and there's plenty of models - both vintage and new that I am interested in.
Nice to have found your forum, I'll keep on reading various threads!